PRESS RELEASE: What Else But Home
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—September 30, 2009—On September 30th, City Youth Now and Books Inc., sponsored a visit by New York Author, Michael Rosen to the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center. At the center, Rosen talked about his new release What Else But Home: A Story about Seven Boys and An American Journey Between the Projects and the Penthouse and the importance of positive adult role models.
Author Michael Rosen's seven-year-old son Ripton decided one day to join a pick-up game of baseball with some older kids in a New York City park. At the end of the game Ripton asked his new friends if they wanted to come back to his house for snacks and Nintendo. Over time, five of the boys—all black and Hispanic, from the impoverished neighborhood across the park—became a fixture in the Rosens' home and eventually started referring to Michael and his wife Leslie as their parents. The boys began to see the Rosens as more than just an arcade of middle-class creature comforts; the Rosens began to learn the full stories of the boys' fractured lives.
Soon Michael and Leslie decided that their responsibility, like that of parents everywhere, was to help all their boys get a start in life. So began a turbulent learning experience for all.
Michael brought his story to the classroom at Juvenile Hall on Tuesday, September 30. The boys who came to hear him speak shared moving stories of their own. This prompted the author to pass around a journal for each boy to write down how they would take care of family, look out for a sibling, or mentor a youth. The answers reflected youth who were hopeful, strong, optimistic, worried, and cautious about returning to their families, and re-entering their communities.
City Youth Now is pleased to announce that Michael Rosen's visit is the first author visit made possible through a new collaboration with Books, Inc. of San Francisco. Books, Inc. will be organizing financed author tours to the Bay Area from which City Youth Now will choose writers and poets of interest to visit the detained youth. The next author visit through this collaboration will take place in November when Matt de la Pena will visit the detained youth (www.mattdelapena.com).
About Author Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen is the author of Spinning Words, Turning Worlds and What Else But Home. Michael lives in New York with the extended Rosen family, who were the inspiration for his most recent novel. www.michaelrosenwords.com
About City Youth Now:
City Youth Now supports youth in the San Francisco foster care and juvenile justice systems by providing funds for services and programs that promote stability and personal growth. www.cityyouthnow.org
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Press Contact:
Brittany Jarabek
Executive Director
City Youth Now
brittany@cityyouthnow.org
